Olympic shooting camp to go on as planned despite coach testing positive for COVID-19

A shooting coach at the Dr Karni Singh Range has tested positive for COVID-19 but the development will not force a closure of the facility, where the Olympic core group will start training from 1 August. The Sports Authority of India (SAI), in a press release, said the woman coach intimated the result of her test to it on Thursday but since she did not come in contact with any of the shooters, the facility will remain open for training. The Karni Singh range was reopened for use on 8 July. “The coach had visited the centre’s administrative department only on 24 July, 2020. She did not visit the field of play or interact with any athlete training at the centre,” the SAI stated. “All actions as per protocol have been taken. The centre has been sanitised and training of shooters will be not be affected,” it added. The Olympic core group of 34 Indian shooters is also scheduled to return to training from 1 August at the range after the National Rifle Association of India (NRAI) made attendance compulsory. A total of 15 Indian shooters have qualified for the Olympic Games, postponed to next year due to the raging pandemic. The NRAI has appointed High-Performance Manager and former India shooter Ronak Pandit as the Nodal Officer in charge of overall coordination for hygiene and medical protocols of the camp.